CHILDREN WHO WON’T EAT

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 2, 1 August 1924, Page 45

CHILDREN WHO WON’T EAT

A CHILDREN’S DOCTOR

ISI N C LIN A TlO N for what is considered the normal amount of food is a frequent source of worry to parents. Like the majority of the ills which beset the young, it is more alarming than dangerous. With “only” children want of appetite frequently springs from the self-centredness of these isolated little beings. From babyhood every little ailment has been a signal for the upheaval of the household, and they speedily learn that to refuse food is the easiest method of focusing attention on themselves. Indeed, to all children the spectacular in a refusal of food appeals. In the nervous child of ill-nourished body very slight causes will lead to a disappearance of appetite. Emotion of any kind inhibits hunger, and the association of a particular variety of food with a previous disturbance will often act as a deterrent should the dish be set before the child again. One of the most vicious habits of parents is the substitution of a delicacy for food which has been refused. Not only does this-encourage the child in its line of conduct, but also the food which tempts is often illsuited to the young digestion. * * * * * For the capricious appetite of g. child there is often a physical cause. The brown-eyed child with sallow skin inherits a weakness with its temperament : it is subject to an easily disordered digestion. To the frail little stomach of these children plain food appeals little, and the stimulation of rich or highly seasoned food is necessary to produce appetite. The cutting of a child’s first teeth is an event in the household, and the little sufferer is anxiously tended. When the second, or permanent, teeth begin to appear, little notice is taken of what is transpiring. Yet the mouth of a five or six-years-old child, busy with its second dentition, may be painful, and this pain will give rise to a disinclination for food. Therefore, when a child begins to go off: its food, the possibility of dental trouble should not be overlooked, the state of its digestion should be ascertained, and if the conclusion is arrived at that the phenomenon is nervous or psychical, placidity is the course to adopt. It is better that a child should go twenty-four hours with very little food than that an incident connected with the forcing of food on it should be stamped on its wonderful little memory. In fact, with the child of weak digestion a twenty-four hours’ fast is not at all a had thing it gives matters a chance to right themselves. Above all, keep the little actor as much as possible out of the limelight. Let the child believe that the taking of its food is an event on a par with its refusal, and suggestion and natural appetite will speedily bring about a change which will dispel the maternal fears.